Journal-box.



No. 664,925. Patented 1an. l, 190|.

w. F. Burma w. e. nuNHAM.

JOURNAL BOX.

(Application filed June 17, 1899.)

Unirse STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER F. BORN, OF DOWNERS GROVE, AND WILLIAM G. DUNHAM, OF

CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS.

JOU FINAL-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 664,925, dated January 1, 1901.

Application tiled June 17, 1899.

To a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, WALTER F. BORN, residing at Downers Grove, in the county of Du Page, and WILLIAM G. DUNHAM, residing at Chicago,in the county of Cook, State of Illinois, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Journal-Boxes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

Our invention relates to journal-boxes generally, but more particularly to j ournal-boxes for railway and other cars, which are required to be oil-tight and dust-proof and at the same time simple, strong, and durable.

The primary object of our invention is to provide the journal-box with a stuffing-box of simple and efficient construction which shall be capable of insertion and proper adjustment in the journal-box by persons of ordinary or of even a low order of intelligence and which when in place will eiectually prevent the escape of oil from the rear end of the box and the admission of dust thereinto.

With these ends in View our invention consists in certain features of novelty in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts by which the said objects and certain other objects hereinafter appearing are attained, all as fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the said drawings, Figure lis alongitu dinal sectional view of the journal-box complete. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 2 2, Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a detail transverse sectional view of the stuftingbox hereinafter described. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of the journal-box, journal, and stuffing-box arranged in place, taken on the line 4 4, Fig. l; and Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, showing a modified form hereinafter described.

2 represents the box proper, which may be of any suitable construction, and 29 is the dust-guard or gland held in place by the flanges 2S, cast in the bottom and near the rear end of the box, as usual. Between the rear one of the iianges or walls 28 and the back of the box is formed a stuffing-box socket 32, in which is located a removable stuffing-box, consisting of a fiat hollow slide Serial No. 720,885. (No model.)

composed of a sheet-metal box 33, having a removable lid or cover 34, held on by screws or other suitable devices 35, as better shown in Fig. 3. This stuiiing-box 33 34 has a passage 3L through both sides for the admission of the journal l, and said passage is of substantially the same diameter as the journal, and between the metallic box 33 and its cover 34 is arranged a compressible or divided packing-ring 36, which is preferably of a thickness equal to the space between the inner and outer sides of the box 33 34. This ring 36 is coiled around the opening 31L so as to surround and snugly t the journal 1, and the ends of the ring 36 are held normally under tension, so that one end will be strained toward the other.l The ring 36 is divided on the bias and its ends are overlapped, and surrounding the ring is a flexible band 37, preferably of metal, having one end secured to a bracket 38 and its other end attached to a coil-spring 39, which in turn is attached to an eye 40, formed on the bracket 38, the lat- -ter being of course secured to the box 33. The bracket 38 is provided with spurs or anchors 41, which dig into the end of the ring 36, while the band 37 is operatively attached to the other end of the ring 36, preferably by a number of points or spurs 42, struck down from the band 37 into the ring 36, so that the tension of the spring 39 will draw the ring 36 tightly around the journal. The box 33 34 is of such diameter that it fits nicely within the socket 32 and rises and falls and in fact is entirely supported on and free to move with the journal, so that dust cannot enter the box without passing between the ring 36 and the journal or else between the sides of the box 33 and its socket 32; but these parts being nicely fitted together they serve not only to exclude dust but prevent the leakage of oil.

In the form of our invention shown in Fig. we employ the two-part fiat box 33 34 described with reference to Figs. 3 and 4and in which is arranged a divided packing-ring 36h, surrounded by the liexible band or strip 37, supported on bracket 38, as above described with reference to Fig. 4. The free end of the band 37 in this instance, however, is attached to a hook 54, formed on a slide 55, which runs on a rod 56, extending across the upper side IOO of the box 33 3i and forming an abutment for a cushion or coil-spring 57, located on the rod 56 between said slide and the side of the boX, thus enabling the pressure of the spring 57 to draw the band or strap 37 tightly around the ring 36b and compress the latter on the journal l. In order to avoid all difficulty that might arise in inserting the packing-ring 36b over the journal after the stufng-bo'X has been put in place in its socket in the journalbox due to the tendency of the ring 36b to contract to a diameter muchsmaller than the diameter of the journal, we have provided the device with means whereby the tension of the spring 57 may be released and the ring 36" thereby expanded at will and allowed to remain in its expanded condition until fullyinserted over the journal. This tension-releasing device consists of a rod 58, which passes through the outer edge of the boX and also through the slide 55, which is free to move back and forth on the rod 58; but the rod 58,

at its inner end, is provided with a lug 59,

adapted to be pulled against the slide 55 when the rod 58 is pulled outwardly, which may be accomplished by means of an exterior handlepiece 60, and thus compress the spring and release its tension on the ring 36h. When the spring has been compressed to the desired eX- tent, it may be thus held by a pin or nail 61, inserted through one of a series of perforations 62, formed along the upper edge of the box 33, so that after the stuIlng-box has been inserted over the journal the pin or nail 6l may be withdrawn to release the spring and tighten the packing-ring. The rod 58 preferably passes also through the spring 57, and its handle end 60 may be turned or rotated to one side to aord a better grip thereon when it is desired to pull it out.

VvHaving thus described our invention, what we claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a journal-box and journal, of a divided packing-ring surrounding the journal, means for anchoring one end of said ring and means attached to the opposite end of said ring for continually straining it toward said anchored end, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a j ournal-box and journal, of a compressible packing-ring surrounding said journal, a spring having operative connection with said ring for drawing one end thereof toward the other and a releasing attachment having operative relation to said spring for releasing the tension on said ring and thereby permitting of the expansion of said ring, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with a journal-box and journal, of a compressible packing-ring surrounding said journal, a iieXible band surrounding said ring and having teeth or spurs digging thereinto, means for anchoring said band against movement at one end and means for straining the other end of said band toward the anchored end, substantially as set forth.

4. rlhe combination with a journal-box of a stuffing-box arranged therein and comprising a divided packing-ring a flexible Vband snrrounding said ring and a spring having operative connection with said band-for drawing one end of said ring toward the other, sub- Y stanti-ally as set forth.

5. The combination with a journal-box of a stuffing-box arranged therein and comprising a compressible packing-ring, a spring having operative connection with said ring for drawing one end thereof toward the other and a releasing attachment having operative connection with said spring for releasing its tension on said ring and thereby permitting of the expansion of the ring, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination with a journal-box of Va stuffing-box arranged therein and comprising a compressible ring, a spring, a slide oper- Y ated by said spring and having operative connection with said ring, a releasing-rod overY which said slide is free to run, having a lug for engaging said slide whereby the tension of the spring may be released from said ring and the ring expanded, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with a journal-box of a stuffing-box arranged therein and comprising a compressible packing-ring, a springhaving operative connection with said ring for com- Y pressing it, a boX in which said spring and ring are located, a releasing-rod passing into said box and having an operative handle at its outer end and means at its inner end for engaging and compressing said spring, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination with a j ournal-box ofa stu ffmg-box therein comprising a compressible packing-ring, a flexible band surroundingV said ring and having teeth or lugs engaging therewith, means for anchoring or securing Y one end of said band and a tension device attached to and pulling upon the otherl end of said band for compressing said ring, sub-YV stantially as set forth.

9. The combination with a journal-box of a stuffing-box therefor,a com pressible packingring arranged in said stuffing-box, a'slidehaving operative connection with said packingring for contracting it, a spring by which said slide is cushioned, a tension-releasing rod fior moving said slide and compressing said spring and a temporary lock or holding device for said slide, substantially as set forth.

WALTER F. BORN. WILLIAM G. DUNHAM..

Witnesses:

EDNA B. JOHNSON, F. A. HOPKINS. 

